War Eagle

Reveling in another Auburn Victory while sipping tea in the pretty flower

mug left by previous apartment dwellers. I've been wearing my AU polo

since yesterday morning but decided not to change when I woke up still 

reeling with joy from another football win!!!! People here don't quite understand

our enthusiasm for football, I think any other year when Auburn was putting on

their usual display of 8-5 or something like that we would be totally normal. But when does Auburn go UNDEFEATED. NEVER. So we are going to celebrate even 

if we are in England where they don't care.

Helllloooo Hollywood

This Friday at work I was minded my own buisness, pounding out some Excel spread sheets, when my co-worker answered the phone.  It's just the two of us upstairs in the "Hawk's Nest" and naturally, when she is on the phone I try to give her a little privacy by not listening in on her conversations.  But I couldn't help but listen in when I heard her murmur "Ah, yes, we actually do have an American that works here".  I start thinking oh gosh- what British manner did I fumble? What faux-pa did I make that only an American would make? I went back to my spread sheets when she says "Katie, the phone is for you!"  Weary, I got up and answered the phone to one of the producers at BBC. BBC?! I don't know much about British publications, but I defiantly know BBC.  She was extremely friendly and and started telling me that they need an American to come be on their radio show that night to talk about an American Halloween.  They were so curious to how Americans celebrate Halloween and needed a true blooded American to help them deciphire all the tricks and treating. I was a little skeptical at first, but then she promised me a full tour of the BBC production studio and she threw in a free invatation for Jordan so alas, I surrendered my Americaness.  After work and a stop at one of our favorite pubs, we biked out to the production studio.  The last time I went to a productions studio I was in thrid grade on a field trip.. so this was a exciting adventure for both of us, minus the lunchables.  She brought us into the studio, showed us the news production room, where the filiming for the news happens and finally the radio show room.  We met the DJ and he took us into his "live broadcast booth" which was totally swanky.

CHECK IT: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00bqys1/Phil_Mercer_Oxfordshire_woman_jailed_for_drowning_eight_cats/
and jump to 2:19: 33

Go ahead and make fun of how funny we sound, we were a little star struck.

New Sports

If the idea of the blog is to keep everyone back home posted of current developments, I have joined my college rowing team. Not to be confused with the University rowing team which is serious business lots of practice and required skill. The college is kind of beginner level, a bit of a change of pace from Auburn Swimming to St. Hilda's intermediate rowing. So far we have three practices a week, a few less than my swimming schedule....by about 7 practices. However, it is really fun. Waking up in the morning cycling down to the boat house and rowing into the sunrise is a refreshing way to start the day, not to mention the river is constantly teaming with swans, mallards, and geese. The scenery yesterday reminded me of being back in Virginia. Leaves Changing. Cows Grazing. Dew Forming. The water matching a greyish sky beginning to light with sunrise. It was a wonderful feeling, not so different than coming into the wall after a 200 free in the outdoor pool at Auburn and seeing the sun rise up over top of Jordan-Hare.
After attending practice with the Oxford varsity swim team I decided not to pursue my swimming career here at the University. Returning to the water, after eight months without swimming, was a bizarre sensation to say the least. I spent a lot of time after Nationals thinking about swimming, thinking about how I felt about it, how I acknowledged its power in my life, and how I relied on it for identity and security. I also thought about the feelings that I associated with my favorite times in swimming, and the feelings I associated with my lowest times in swimming. I thought about the incredible opportunities afforded me through my swimming career as well as the uncountable sacrifices I made along the way for the sake of competition. I considered the pressures that I mounted on my own shoulders, as well as those influenced by the team, the coaches, and the storied alumni that both haunt and motivate the lanes of Auburn. I thought about all of this and much more during the months following my swimming career and I didn't miss it at all, until I watched some of my friends compete last summer at Nationals. I watched the same people I competed with for years swim in beautiful strokes and for the first time I was on the outside looking in and there was a large part of me that longed to be in the heat racing as well. I missed swimming for every reason that could be thought of under the sky but most of all I missed the people that I trained with for years. I realized that what I loved most about swimming had nothing to do with the times, or the places, or the meets, or the training; though I loved and missed the experiences associated with these things. What I missed most was stretching on the pool deck and doing abs after practice while joking around with Will Dove, pushing through a hard set of weights after getting pumped up by Adam Klein, sitting in the shower talking after an exhausting butterfly set with Tyler McGill... I missed cooking huge breakfasts after practice and playing video games to bypass time during taper, sitting up late at night on the front porch and talking about good times and every other experience that really had nothing to do with swimming at all. I realized that times pass and places fade but friendships last forever and that was what swimming meant to me. I loved my time swimming at Auburn and I get emotional thinking about it sometimes, but I get emotional thinking about how much I miss my team. And when I was swimming in the water with the Oxford team that morning I came to grips with a lot of frustrations about swimming and not being capable of my past abilities. Swimming would never be like it was in Auburn and instead of trying to fake that it could be I would pursue something new and exciting that could define itself. So that is all to say.... I joined the rowing team instead of the swim team and it is great so far. I don't say any of this to express any dissatisfaction with the team here, or the coaching, or anything else associated with the Oxford team, its simply a personal thing and I am ready to try something new.

The Truckers, the South, and my dislike of the Steve Miller Band

So off to a different style blog than yesterday (we don't want to pigeon hole our blog into any cultural stereotype of only talking about the same stuff over and over)

So today I'm going to talk about the fact that the Drive-By Truckers are coming to the UK and are playing in London on Nov. 14th so if anyone is thinking to themselves, "Hey, I got nothing going on that Sunday night I'll just pop across the pond hang with Jordan and watch the Truckers" well you are certainly welcome to come.

The location of our apartment in relation to my classes and the Rhodes House is about a 20-30 minute walk (or 10-15 minute bike ride). However, either way I have been listening to my iPod while I travel and one of the things I have found is that surrounded by this new place and new culture I listen to a lot of Truckers and Black Crowes. I feel like it keeps me connected to my Southern home. I am so proud to love the places where I come from, both Roanoke and Auburn. But from a larger vantage point, I am so proud of being from the Southeast. I think that living in it my whole life I always took for granted the subtle beauties of the culture, the landscape, and the people. Looking somewhat existentially at life in South is something that I am excited to be able to do, and gain other people's perspectives on the place from where I come. I plunged into a conversation with my new friend Richard (New Zealand) about the magnitude of college football in the south, and excitedly described the atmosphere that surrounds the musical culture of Nashville with my friend Charlie from Britain. Most of all I get to enjoy the gloriousness of hot tea with milk while I explain that in the South we drink ice cold SWEET tea with lemon. My observation of the thought processes of the few that I talked to about these things is that there is a mysteriousness to the South that excites people. Everyone knows what they get when they go to New York or DC or LA. But the South is still a mystery, and having that mystery as my birthplace gives me something to be proud of in this melting pot city that is Oxford. --- and this leads me to my next point which I came upon while in the shower....

I started off talking about the Drive-By Truckers and I don't really feel like I need to explain why there music is innately southern, all you have to do is listen to it. But, I do want to let all of our blog readers out there know about my first experience that I really remember with non-conformity. Most of my close friends can attest to the fact that I have a severe dislike for the Steve Miller Band. For any older classic rock fans who idolize the Steve Miller Band I apologize and please don't judge me its just not my favorite. However, this was a hard thing for me to come to. As an adolescent boy growing up in the Roanoke, VA you listened to the John Boy and Billy Big Show on the Rock of Virginia 96.3 WROV, and it was a rare morning that you heard less than 6 Steve Miller Band songs in the course of a few hours. Given, I may have at first liked the band because I thought it gets played on the same station as Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers, and as a teenage boy in Virginia these were musical hinges to hang your door on. I felt as though the nation of classic rock was suddenly going to turn on me and disavow me as a member to their exclusive club. I would no longer be able to air guitar the solo to "Freebird" or the drums to "Rock and Roll". However, I really didn't enjoy the music, I think at first as a 13 year old figuring out the thing about the peaches and the tree in "The Joker" I felt real cool but then I turned 14. And honestly "Fly like an Eagle" could we be a little more creative with our imagery (given it what great in Space Jam). But anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know how my life of questioning conformity started... with the Steve Miller Band, so I guess I can't really badger them too much they did some good for me. Anyway, I have to go to class have a great day see YA'LL later. (I don't feel local enough to say "cheers!" yet, how would I feel if some Brit came walking through Auburn saying "See Ya'll later" in their sophisticated accent)

No Class Wednesday (Description of Oxford System)

So today I don't have any class which is great, however, I have endless amounts of reading to do but I wanted to stop and write a little blog explaining my educational system here at Oxford so that it maybe makes a little bit of sense (very hard to actually make sense of though). So each week I have lectures, seminars, tutorials, and group discussions. These are all different environments of learning however, they are all incorporated into the greater learning objective. A lecture is similar to what you would find in the states, a specific topic is explained for about an hour by one of the professors in a lecture room. There are three different supervisors in my program and each of them teach different lectures during the week. With each lecture there is a coinciding reading list with between 20 and 40 readings of books, articles, and journals to gain more information on the specific subject. Separate from the lectures are what are called seminars. These seminars do not specifically pertain to the course but are usually organized by course lecturers and so typically correlate to some sort of course material. Seminars are talks from researchers, lecturers, field workers, or any other people of respected position who come and discuss there field of study with the class. Some seminars are out of this world incredible, such as the one I will discuss shortly, and some others are morbidly boring or just fly way over your head. Lastly there are what are called tutorials, this is the difficult part of the Oxford system. Each week a 2000-2500 word essay is due on Tuesday evening to a lecturer on a particular topic given to you with a list of readings the week before. This essay is then read by your tutor and the following Thursday discussed by you, your tutor, and one or two of your peers. Typically you are asked to defend your arguments and talk about what you read, how you felt about it, and in general explain your failures (AHH!!). But its not bad because the essays aren't for a grade they are merely a reference point for the tutors to examine how the material is saturating the class and an opportunity for students to be applying the education and really diving into the material. So far I have loved this system but to fully grasp the greater central Oxford learning system you should also know that as an Oxford student you are allowed and encouraged to attend any lecture or seminar by any lecturer in any field of study. So if you have a free hour and want to learn a little about Freudian thought, or Latin American political theory, or quantum mechanics....(nah) you can. Which is really cool to me, I have been searching for some interesting lectures and am really excited about a seminar I found called: Crisis of a Wasteful Nation, Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era. But I have also found some interesting lectures on social policy, international development, history of medicine, and political theory. There is so much to learn and so little time to do it in. But I'm trying to stay on top of all my medical anthropology reading, which brings me to my next point (long blog sorry).
During my seminar Monday I was introduced to the very interesting and thought provoking topic of sex-selection in India. I wanted to talk about it in the blog because whenever people ask me what I'm studying at Oxford I tell them Medical Anthropology and they proceed to ask, What exactly is that? So instead of trying to define the field of medical anthropology and butcher it tremendously I will simply give you an intricate example of what medical anthropology is and the importance of this knowledge to public health among other things. On Monday we were spoken to by Dr. Maya Unnithan of Sussex University on her specific field work and study of fetal sex-selection in India. This refers to a growing trend in Indian society to abort the female fetus upon ultrasound information confirming its sex. This has been found to occur mostly in middle class educated individuals as well as in lower class demographics and across multiple urban regions of India. The motivations as observed by Dr. Unnithan are myriad and complicated but certain driving forces include the social distinction given to fertile women especially when pregnant, the knowledge of a poor quality of life for the child once born, pragmatism of economics associated with the investment of a child, and the need for a male child to be born in order to pass wealth and heritage. Each of these motivations are incredibly intricate upon deeper discussion. Within the women there is little moral guilt or remorse associated with the abortion because this is a cultural norm that has cultivated in the society. Many women feel that the quality of life available to the child is so hard and difficult for women that they are doing the right thing by aborting. Further, the pragmatism of the issue is seconded by the thought of how parents of a daughter will pay the dowry necessary for their child to marry into a family. These are all cultural constructs that complicate a medical issue. Looking to the doctor's perspective, many physicians see their actions as in the best interest of the child. They feel that it is better to end the suffering now then have a child die of neglect down the road or worse have the mother go to a back alley abortion clinic risking her own life to end the pregnancy. Furthermore, the government of India seeking to enter the global scene must sign various human rights agreements to be considered on the same level of development as other global nations. However, they also see the population control issues of China and implicitly know that the cultural abortion practices in their country are in a way controlling the enormous growth of the country. I have attempted terribly to skim the surface of a difficult and complex issue that is taking place in India. However, I do feel that it is a perfect description of the importance that medical anthropology plays in this world. Understanding health in a population is inextricably linked with the interplay of culture, society, religion, politics, and ecology. If you are really interested in learning a little bit more about this topic you should google scholar Dr. Unnithan's essay entitled:

Female selective abortion - beyond 'culture': family making and gender inequality in a globalising India

My description of this issue does no justice to her descriptions of field work so if your interested please read.

First day on the job and a little Harry Potter

Cyber friends!

I felt so cool, riding my new bike to my first day at work this morning, with my packed lunch hanging off the handle bars. (Side note- the Ozone has been resurrected in a new silver light and is back in action in Oxford). I probably looked like a kid on a pony for the first time riding to the candy store, grinning from ear to ear the whole way.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity to work at such a stimulating, exciting place.  Honestly, I am just so excited about everything I am going to learn from the people I am working with and all the experiences coming my way.   The day got even better when I got home and Jordan had lilies in a vase on the kitchen table to celebrate my first day.  Tell me I don't have the best husband in the world. 

new bike goofin on the cadi caprice

After moving in we realized that we live right across the street from the university rugby fields.  Tonight Oxford played the London Wasps and marked my first rugby experience.  wow, what a chaotic game. I'm sure it seemed so chaotic to me because I am not familiar with any of the rules or objectives of the game, but the other part of me thinks that it could just be an insane game.  First of all, why the heck do none of the guys wear helmets or pads? After I realized this, I expected blood to be gushing out of every guy that stood up after getting trounced on by 4 huge guys on the other team. But no- these guys are invincible I tell you.  I gained much respect for anyone who goes out for rugby.  The funniest part for me was when there was a "jump ball" and both teams huddled right next to each other and hoisted up one HUGE player while the referee threw the ball onto the pile of men and the two "flyers" (if you will) fought to knock the ball to their side.  I guess from my days as a cheerleader I expected the lightest, prettiest guy to be the one chosen to be lifted in the air. But it was hilarious to see the burliest, most macho man lifted into the air by his teammates.

Most importantly, Saturday night one of our friends invited me to accompany her and another friend to the Harry Potter dinner at her college.  I must admit, I felt like I was a little unworthy of this experience, seeing that I have only read the first 3 books and have fallen asleep in the middle of every Harry Potter movie I've seen.  But none-the-less I was so pumped to have been invited.  I was told to dress up and spent all afternoon in our room holding up clothes asking Jordan "which one looks witchey-er?" Soon to arrive and realize I had the worst costume there (I had to claim I was merely mud-blood).  People went all out.  One of our friends decked out in gold glitter from head to toe and was the golden snitch, there was a phoenix, a Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, a guy with Aragog around his neck, Malfoy, you get the picture.  It was incredible, when we walked in we were greeted by Dumbledore who was holding the sorting hat.  When we walked in a loud, omniscient voice assigned us to colleges- we were selected as Ravenclaws.  Throughout the night Dumbledore would present challenges that we all had to do in order to win points for our team.  One of the challenges included one person from your team casting a spell and then another person had to receive it.  This is when my lack of Harry Potter knowledge was most evident, people kept casting all of these spells and laughing so hard "what if he cast a rumper-tumper spell instead?" and I had to fake laugh to fit in.  Even the ceiling had a sky that kept changing like in the movie, every detail was accounted for.  It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, I don't know that I will ever be the same, especially after digesting eel.

Dumbledore doing his thing

Stir Fry and BIG NEWS!!!!

Last night marked an eventful evening in the married lives of Katie and Jordan. We cooked our first meal in our new home's kitchen. A tasty assemblage of chicken, frozen vegetables, teriyaki sauce, ramen noodles and chopped garlic. Maybe one of the better thrown together meals we have ever cooked and there were leftovers. However, while cooking we were both unable to control our memories of cooking large family dinners with our friends in Auburn. I recalled a specific memory when Tyler McGill and I had to teach Will Dove how to cook a can of green beans on the stove. At first he just opened the can and put it on the stovetop. Later, Will turned out to cook far more than any of us but his learning days were always fun to poke at. On a completely seperate note we have finally gotten our wedding pictures and they are awesome, Laurel did such a wonderful job they are wonderful and radiate Katie's beauty in every picture. Also there are some really fun pictures from all the dancing this one goes out to Mary Fran my little brother's girlfriend and master wedding cake maker. (Also note that Will, bottom left, and John Hans nearby are both wearing sunglasses)

and

(How can happiness not exude from these pictures our wedding was AWESOME)

and many more to come but I have a tutorial soon so I must end this blog.

But first, the MOST EXCITING NEWS OF THE BLOG!!!!!

KATIE GOT A JOB

After applying to more jobs than either of us can remember she landed a job at none other than the Rhodes House. The Rhodes House is the functioning building for the Rhodes Foundation and a headquarters for all Rhodes Scholars on campus. It provides Rhodes Scholars a place to come and hang out, study, drink tea, and there are often meet and mingles with free drinks (one happening tonight matter of fact).

(Rhodes House)

 Katie's position will be working as an assistant in the Rhodes House helping with organizing fundraisers and special events for the Warden. She is immensely happy about this position as am I, but I'm sure she will blog soon about all of her specific duties and responsibilities. This is Goodbye for now but we are going to try and be posting more regularly now that we are getting settled in and not running around town trying to find buildings and buy home goods like bowls and forks.